If "The West Wing" were staffed by the drones of "The Office," it might look a little HBO's new comedy "Veep," which premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. That's fairly high praise. Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as Selina Meyer, a former U.S. senator turned marginalized, gaffe-prone vice-president who's desperate to make herself useful -- but more desperate to make herself relevant. Her staffers of varying levels of competence include Amy Brookheimer (Anna Chlumksy of "My Girl"), her somewhat on-the-ball chief of staff; Mike McLintock (Matt Walsh), her longtime communications director whose idea of damage control after yet another massive Meyer oopsies is to hope that Tom Hanks dies; and Gary Walsh (Tony Hale, Buster from "Arrested Development'), her "body man," her personal assistant and factotum of inane tidbits about everyone who crosses Meyer's line of vision: "'She's got a small mustache. It's a little disturbing. Don't stare at it.''

What happens: In the premiere, Meyer is trying to promote her latest who-cares initiative -- replacing plastic forks and knives with environmentally-friendly cutlery made from corn starch. Well, the plastics-producing petroleum industry cares, making Meyer even more of a pariah. (One does wonder briefly how she was ever elected senator in the first place.)

There's plenty of subplots -- a speech Meyer is supposed to give is heavily redacted by the White House's goony liaison Jonah Ryan (Timothy C. Simons), leading to a very awkward podium moment that culminates in Meyer's use of the politically-incorrect word "retard." Plus we meet Dan Egan (Reid Scott), a capable political shark -- Meyer uses another one-syllable word beginning with "sh," but it's a compliment -- who comes on board. We never learn Meyer's political affiliation, and apparently (like Meyer) we're never going to meet the president, because the specifics of policy take a backseat to the lampooning of the process. It would be sad if it weren't so funny. True, some of the gags are cheap -- if someone mentions stomach flu in the first act, there's sure to be a "Bridesmaids" moment in the last.

Will it work: Yes, on many levels -- as a screwball workplace comedy, as political satire, and who knows -- there may even be a Sam-Diane romance between Brookheimer and Egan, whose characters, we learn, briefly dated. Plus it features the immensely appealing Dreyfus. And though the characters aren't always the most likeable, unlike "Veep"'s companion comedy, "Girls," I didn't want to reach into the television and repeatedly smack anyone